runslikeafish

Another vote for both NAB's and CommBank's apps - both very easy to use.

Sounds fantastic! It's great when things fall into place like that!

My wife and I moved out around 18 months ago to "economically challenged" Hobart. My wife (physio) got a job before we moved and I got a job (IT) within about a month and a half. Since then we've both had 2 promotions and both been approached by other companies to work for them. I'd say if you're positive, ready to take action and good at your job you should have no problem at all. You might possibly have to take a step down to "get in the door" (I did but not a huge step) but in our experience people are able to climb the ladder if they have the ability. Good luck!

Good plan! Are you happy with how you're going to eat/sleep/etc without all the things that have been shipped?

Ours took around 12 weeks door to door. That included unpacking at this end and loading into a van and into our house. For me, whilst shipping nothing lets you buy it all again which is fun, I'd rather have the choice of whether to do that or not. And if you ship your things you have that choice. Our experience was that we should have shipped more - we ended up throwing/giving away a load of things after our container had gone. What I can categorically say is that the cost of shipping is significantly less than the cost of replacing everything. Good luck.

I lost an (older) brother this year. I know it can make you re-evaluate lots in your life. My condolences for your loss. I'd say go for it. I quit my job in a bank when I was mid 20's to go on a WHV and it was fantastic. I didn't emigrate then but it planted the seed for emigrating which we did in 2011 and haven't looked back. Good luck!

Thanks for that Tastastic! It's very nice to hear that people like it! ...and the move has worked out fantastically well for us thanks. As good as we could have hoped. I hope yours does the same

Good luck!

I can't really add anything to the conversation about Cygnet and Woodbridge except to say that they're both lovely. I just wanted to mention that I work with probably 10+ people who commute interstate as you describe but in reverse. i.e. they work in Tassie and commute from another state (QLD mostly). Just to let you know that plenty of people do it successfully if you do need to go down that route. Good luck.

Good news for me too! If it happens...

Glad you got it sorted beatnik! Can 1983, I've found that a currency broker typically beats a bank's exchange rate by 2-3%. On $10,000 that's a $200-300 difference. Plus the charges are lower. A currency broker will ask you to make a transfer to a holding account in the same currency and country as you're transferring from and they will send the money to the overseas account for you. Depending on the amount of the transfer this second bit may attract a small charge. As far as "hope" is concerned, they are covered by the FSA like banks (or at least the ones with offices in the UK are) so I don't really understand that comment. As far as I'm concerned, it's a "no brainer" to use a currency broker

Alan, how do you go about getting your UK SA file closed, just call the self assessment hotline? Thanks very much for your help by the way - so many extremely useful forum posts!

I've never come across this at all and I've used HiFX and more latterly Travelex a lot. Are you doing the transfers online? If not - try that. Just set up the online transfer - Travelex (or whoever) will give you Aus bank details to transfer to (which you can also do online) and away you go. No charges at any point. Seriously, you shouldn't be getting any bank fees for these at all. If a foreign exchange broker asks you to transfer to a foreign bank (e.g. Barclays) to make the transfer then that's defeating the object! Actually, just typing that makes me think - are you perhaps trying to use your old UK account to do the transfers? That could possibly explain it. Try opening a new account with a broker with an office in Aus (if you open one with Travelex please do feel free to go via the link in my blog below! ) and see if that helps. I'd be interested to hear the reason for the charges if you do find out. My guess, as above, is that you're using a UK based account so you're being asked to transfer the money to a UK holding account. An Aus based exchange account would ask you to make the Aus $ transfer to another Aus bank account. It's certainly the first time I've heard of someone being charged like that. Good luck!

I used to be scared of flying but I found a website that really helped me. I can't find it now unfortunately (I came across it probably 4 or 5 years ago) but there are several similar sites. The one thing that most helped me - very strangely - was wearing a hairband on my wrist and pinging it if I felt scared. I can't explain why that worked but it did. I've flown probably 10 times in the last few years and been fine every time. Have a google around for some things to help you, it certainly helped me! Here's one which looks OK (and free) - it's not the one I read but give it a go. http://www.flyingwithoutfear.com/ Good luck!

I think it's a good idea. I think this gives you the opportunity to give it a good amount of time to really see if it's for you without the potential pressure of it definitely being a permanent move. If you're both committed to give it a good go for at least two years it sounds good to me. Try and make as many friends as you can when you arrive and you'll settle right in! Good luck!

Welcome and good luck!

When my wife and I first seriously discussed it, I was super keen and she was slightly keen but essentially unwilling to make the move without having ever set foot in the country. We found that a recce trip, even though it costs a reasonable amount of money, was invaluable in helping us to decide - both whether to go as well as where to go. I did a blog post on discussing the merits of a recce trip a little while ago (blog link below this post - look in the "Moving to Australia" section). Well worth giving it some serious thought in my opinion. Very best of luck!

Head to Salamanca or North Hobart after 5 and you'll see it's not dead. Of course there's not as much going on as there is in a large city but there's enough going on to keep me happy! Good luck.

What really helped us was to have a specific list of things to do when we arrived. We arrived in November so I looked up what was happening in and around the area in November and December and planned to participate! There's no denying it's a scary time but having some positive things to look forward to really helped us. Plus attending some events locally quickly gets you into the spirit of where you are - as well as potentially helping you make some new friends from just starting up conversations with people. Another thing that helped us was creating a list of things that we needed to sort out quickly: activate bank accounts, get a tax file number, register for Medicare... etc. Good luck!

Good luck! You're in the right place here to pick up loads of advice and information. Enjoy your scouting mission!

5 min drive, 25 min walk

Just a couple of thoughts on your last two questions: 4/ Melbourne and Sydney are both great cities and you'll likely find more work there than Adelaide. You'll find spells of hot weather in both though, although usually not as hot as Adelaide for as long. Melbourne and Sydney are both much bigger than Adelaide and will generally have "more to do" in most people's eyes. To be honest, even though it's an expense I'd seriously consider doing a recce trip so you can see the cities for yourself. Our recce trip (see post my blog linked in my signature) really helped us finalise the decision to move. 5/ Personally I'd say it's a great idea if you don't need the money from the sale. Even if you did need the money then I'd consider remortgaging to release some equity if you can. We've let our UK property out for two years and are waiting for the UK market (surely!) and exchange rate (hopefully) to move in our favour before selling. In the meantime the house is paying for itself. You do need a letting agent that you can trust though. I spoke with a number before I settled on one. I've just read back through the thread and noticed that no-one's really commented on agents either. Personally if your application is "straightforward" - so no medical or police record issues or similar - I wouldn't use one. The process is lengthy and detailed but I would think that two teachers would be able to do it no problem. Of course not using an agent means that you don't have anyone to chase so can do things as quickly as you can yourselves. Good luck with your move. I'd be interested to hear how you get on without doing a recce (if that's what you decide) and if you don't do a recce, where you decide to go.

If you mean where can you find what rental properties are available, your best bet is here http://www.realestate.com.au/rent

If you're using NAB to transfer that money, have a look at currency brokers, HiFX, MoneyCorp, TorFX and the like. They transfer money internationally and obtain WAY better rates for you than the banks. Their charges (when there are any) are also far lower as a rule. It depends how much your transferring obviously but you can save a lot of money using them.

Don't forget to also look at baggage allowance. From memory both Emirates and Singapore Airlines give a lot more baggage allowance to people with a residential Aus visa that they is not yet activated. We've traveled with both these airlines and they were great. Good luck